Ask HN: Great maker projects for 8th grade kids and above?

Buy a Bambu Lab A1 Mini 3D printer. They're amazing. Then look at examples of what you can do on Youtube. Amazing! Kids nowadays have it so good.

I've had an Ender 3 for 5 years and just got a Bambu P1S, and it's amazing how far things have progressed. The Bambu is just a workhorse, I currently have it printing Christmas ornaments to give the extended family. Where the Ender I would shy away from things unless I REALLY needed them, because I knew I'd have to spend time screwing around, the Bambu basically just works.

I bought the Ender for my son, and he put it together and helped me do some mods to it and print some things, but after about 3 months he never touched it again. Just gave it to his school when I got the Bambu.

The A1 seems to be quite a capable little printer.

Beyond just printing things you find online, learning CAD is a really fun way of turning ideas into tangible objects.

Same here. Now I have an A1 + A1 mini too. It's amazing. This is what I dreamed of when I built my first RepRap. I did get me Ender 3 working eventually but the print quality isn't as good as any of the Bambu printers and it's super slow.

The new CoreXY Prusa One is also a very good buy when it comes out but the A1/A1 mini in particular are just such a good deal at the moment.

I feel like its best to have a project first where you need 3d printing and then buy a printer. Just getting a printer in and of itself is kinda boring after finding some random crap on thingiverse and printing it out.

I'd recommend getting a prusa kit for anyone interested in building stuff. The instructions are easy to follow and broken up nicely. IMO it's also fun to see the parts and a glimpse of the design you wouldn't see buying a complete printer.

My 6yo had 3D printer in school and now is super excited about 3D printing. I'd like to get one of these but have no clue what are the criteria when purchasing one. Can someone help in assistance what to pay attention to while choosing such device? Obviously one of the main criteria user friendliness so that 6yo could quickly start using himself.

Bambu Labs. They have three interesting models:

* P1S: enclosed printer which can print most types of plastic and is extremely fast. It's a CoreXY printer meaning that the print head moves in XY position and the print bed only in Z. This makes it faster and take up less space. Controls via buttons and old style LCD display (3rd party touch panels are available). Available for 560 EUR base, 772 EUR with the AMS.

* A1: open printer which moves the bed the Y position, known as a "bed slinger". It's slightly slower than the P1S due to the bed moving but is still very fast. Controls are an integrated touch panel. This is their most modern design so it's easier to maintain. Priced at 300 EUR base, 450 EUR with AMS Lite

* A1 mini: small version of the A1. Main attraction is the price of 200 EUR base, 350 EUR with AMS Lite (+20 EUR postage).

Now the AMS (for the P1S) and AMS Lite (for the A1/A1M). These are their multiple material system. They allow you to use multiple different materials (colors, different plastics) at the same time. The AMS is enclosed and can be used with materials which must be kept dry (25% humidity in my AMS vs 80% out in the open). I have both and they're both awesome but not 100% required.

Prices in the US are lower as EU prices include 21% sales tax.

What to do? Buy the A1 mini if you're budget constrained or aren't sure. It's fantastic, it prints fast and the 18cm x 18cm size is fine for what kids will do with it. If you can stretch to the P1S then I'd highly recommend it. I brought all 3 for my business and have been running them together pretty much all the time I've been able to have them running. I use the mini for fast prototying and the other to make "production runs". Although I'll probably end up either moving the mini to private or buying another mini - as soon as the kids get started we won't be able to stop.

If you're in SV and have an SV budget for toys then Prusa are releasing a new CoreXY printer early next year. Their printers are more sustainable then Bambu Labs, they're not Chinese and are the market leader in quality. They're more capable than any of these printers too as they can print pretty much anything out of the box. I'm not sure if they have a multi-material system.

IF I managed to scale what I'm doing then this is my plan. I've built a RepRap in the past so I do understand the inner workings, however if I scale up I'll by going with Prusa, so building the kit means that I'll be able to actually service them myself (and if that happens I'll be adding 2-3 a month to my farm).

Bambu are cheaper in Cap Ex but based on reliability they will likely have a similar TCO after a year. Also as a Chinese brand Bambu are risky. If we get tariffs or some kind of international situation then things could be problematic.

Hi there! I’ve been working in the 3D printing industry for 10 years and recently joined Bambu Lab because, in my experience, they offer the best products on the market with an exceptional user experience.

I recently wrote an article that might help you decide: https://blog.bambulab.com/why-a-3d-printer-makes-the-perfect...

  When choosing a 3D printer for your 6-year-old, user-friendliness is definitely key, and that’s an area where Bambu Lab excels. 

Printing with your kids is such a rewarding experience! If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask—I’m happy to help.